The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING “LUCEO NON URO” SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1937. Separate Health And Pensions Schemes

Southland Times, Issue 23332, 16 October 1937, Page 6

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING “LUCEO NON URO” SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1937. Separate Health And Pensions Schemes

In a statement reported from Wellington yesterday the Prime Minister referred' to a possibility that the national superannuation scheme might be carried out as a separate undertaking and not—as most persons have come to expect—in conjunction with the scheme for health insurance. “The national superannuation scheme is undoubtedly the more urgent,” said Mr Savage, “and if it is found that both proposals cannot be satisfactorily proceeded with during the second part of this session we shall not allow the superannuation scheme to be held back by the health insurance scheme.” This is an attitude which should be generally welcome, if only because it suggests that the Government is aware of the need for exhaustive inquiry before the country is called upon to accept a system which may be expensive to operate and which may have unfortunate and far-reach-ing effects if it is imposed suddenly and completely. A national health service was in operation now to a certain extent, said the Prime Minister, although undoubtedly it was capable of being improved to a considerable degree. This is true. We have pointed out several times that the hospitals of New Zealand are already an excellent framework for a gradual extension of health services. The first need is to make these services immediately available to the indigent; and much can be done—as was suggested in the report prepared by the British Medical Association—to treat patients in their own homes, thereby improving conditions for many patients and at the same time relieving the congestion in the hospitals. A sweeping change of the kind usually implied in a health insurance scheme may be attractive where hospitals are still supported by private charities, or where—as in Britain—there is a large population subsisting at low wage levels. But New Zealand is in a different case. Our first objective in health insurance should be a complete service for those unable to pay medical fees and expenses; and when this has been achieved the scheme could be adjusted to a wider basis. Health insurance is essentially a social reform. National superannuation also has its important social aspect; but here the problem is chiefly financial. Pensions are already costing the country an enormous sum every year, and the cost is growing at an alarming rate. In 1934-35 the total was £3,338,354. For the current financial year, 1937-38, it will rise to £6,770,000 —an increase of more than 100 per cent, over a period of four years. These are staggering figures; and beyond them is the fact, clearly discernible in population trends of the period, that the age groups which benefit from pensions are steadily growing in numbers. Even if it is admitted that the sums mentioned above include large amounts for war pensions, it is still obvious that provision for old age remains the greatest single problem among the social services, and that unless it is placed on a contributory basis it will become a financial burden too heavy for the country’s resources. National superannuation is therefore a matter of financial urgency. But it involves careful inquiry and a delicate process of adjustment in relation to existing superannuation schemes. By separating superannuation from health insurance the Government should be able to avoid the dangers implicit in a joint system, and at the same time accustom the country to methods which are still experimental.